


A Man Like Many Before

by madwriter223



Series: A Man Like Many Before [1]
Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Torture, Mental Breakdown, Mental Instability, PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-18
Updated: 2013-04-03
Packaged: 2017-11-10 06:29:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/463238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madwriter223/pseuds/madwriter223
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>-Kink Meme Fill- Steve had seen many men like this before. Tortured, haunted, terrified of everything, but still standing with manic purpose. WARNINGS for implied torture and mental instability</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Man Like Many Before

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a Kink Meme prompt:  
> The Chitauri tortured Loki to do their bidding and then sent him to Mitgard to prepare for their invasion. And Loki is trying, but after all the family upheaval and the fall through the void and the bloody torture that he just went through, he is frankly far too damaged and traumatized to be in any way capable of pulling off a successful heist. I mean, he's trying, but he's just a little busy having horrible flashbacks and whatnot.
> 
> EDITED: I proofread the entire thing again, I changed some things and added a few more details, but the overall story is the same.

/AN: For the purpose of this fic I'm changing the scene where Steve and Tony apprehend Loki. This takes place inside the building Loki gouged that guy's eye out./

Steve eyed the madman they came to defeat. He was standing shakily, eyes dancing rapidly all around. He flinched suddenly at loud sounds or when Mr. Stark talked, and almost seemed to curl up in on himself, forming a little ball of misery. He straightened immediately after, as if forcing himself. As he grinned at them, the muscles in his face seemed to twitch sharply with his each movement.

He appeared insane, at first glance. And, truth be told, at a second glance too. But Steve had seen his fair share of soldiers that couldn't do it anymore, of victims so brutalized only insanity remained for them.

This... manic behavior brought them to mind – haunted eyes and bleeding faces.

Slowly, so as not to startle the man, he lifted one hand, palm open. "Easy. We don't want to hurt you."

"Oh, but I want to hurt you." The man said, leaning forward slowly, as if moving pained him. "I want to hurt you very much." His eyes twitched to Tony. "You I think I'll throw out a window."

"Easy." Cap repeated. He leaned down slowly, and placed his shield on the floor. "My name's Steve Rogers. What's yours?"

"Captain, are you insane?"

"I know what I'm doing." Steve hissed, then concentrated his attention on the man. "Can you tell me your name?"

The man twitched again, and his gaze turned glassy for a moment. "Loki." He said, and he sounded almost surprised.

"Loki. That's a nice name." Steve said, smiling gently. "You don't look too good, Loki. Maybe you'd like to come with us now."

Loki eyed him for a moment, then his face twisted into a snarl. "Don't play games with me, mortal!"

"I'm not, Loki." Steve assured him, gently. "I just thought you might like something to eat. And maybe a safe place to sleep. Would you like to sleep, Loki?"

"Sleep." he repeated, and he made the word sound foreign, unknown. As if he had never heard about the concept.

"Yes. Sleep. Rest. I just thought you might be tired, Loki, that's all. Are you tired?"

"...yes..." Loki whispered, green eyes wide. "...yes, I am..."

"If you come with us, I'll make sure you get a nice soft bed to sleep in. As long as like."

Loki stared around himself, eyes still wide open and haunted. Then he suddenly shook his head sharply. "No. No, I have a job to do here. It's very important." He looked at them, a manic glint shining in his eyes. "You will all kneel to me."

"Of course we will, Loki." Steve said, voice placating. "You're very strong."

"Yes." Loki grinned at him, though he sounded uncertain. "Yes, I am."

"And after you rest, you will be even stronger." Steve added. "It'll be easier to make us all kneel after you sleep some. Will you take me up on my offer, Loki?"

Loki swallowed thickly, shakily. "Sleep would be good." He admitted quietly.

"Then why don't you come with us?" Steve took a slow step forward, but Loki immediately flinched back. "Easy. Why don't you come with us?"

Loki stared at him for long moments, still shaking slightly. He swallowed again, then asked. "You'll let me sleep?" He sounded almost hopeful.

"Yes. A nice, safe sleep. I'll make you a sandwich too, you look a little thin." Steve paused, let that sink in. "But you have to put down that staff."

Loki jerked as if slapped. "No. No no no, I need it, it's important, I have to-"

"Just put down the staff." Steve said, tone still gentle. "Then we'll get you some food and let you sleep as long as you like." He thought about mentioning doctors taking care of any wounds he had, but he remembered the little girl who they had liberated from a HYDRA lab. She had screamed so loudly at the sight of anyone in a lab coat. And considering Loki still had the staff, Steve preferred to avoid any potential panic attacks.

Loki stared at the staff, his breathing erratic. "I have to keep it. He'll want it back." He shook his head and grabbed a fistful of his hair. "Can't lose it."

"We'll take care of it." He gestured slowly to Mr. Stark. "This is Iron Man. His real name is Tony Stark. He's very good with all kinds of weapons." At least when it came to building them, the file had said. "He'll take very good care of that staff for you. He definitely won't lose it."

Loki's shaking gaze turned to Mr. Stark, then back to Steve. "And he'll give it back? I have to return it."

"I promise. When ...'he'..." Loki flinched, curling in on himself with a tiny sound of fear. "comes for the staff, I promise we'll let you return it." He paused again, watching Loki carefully. "Will you put it down, Loki? Please?" Loki stared him, eyes still wide, teeth clenched tight. "Please? Then you can sleep."

Loki looked down at the staff, then at Iron Man, then his gaze jerked back to Steve. "You promise?" he asked, and Steve had him.

"Yes, I do. I promise."

Loki swallowed heavily, then relaxed his white-knuckled grip on the staff. It clattered to the floor and Loki flinched away from the sudden sound.

"Hey, easy. It's all over now, Loki." Steve said, tone soothing. He walked slowly, careful to keep his movements non-threatening. "Come here, and I'll get you to that bed, like I promised."

Loki stared around himself jerkily, still shaking. He flinched when Steve touched his arm and lashed out, hitting Steve in the shoulder. Before the serum, that blow probably would've dislocated his shoulder.

"Loki, hey. It's okay. No problem." He carefully took hold of Loki's arm, then started leading him gently toward the exit, allowing him to set the pace. "We're just gonna go outside. There's a black car out there, nothing scary. It'll take us to a jet, and that will take us to that bed I promised you. Soft mattress, warm covers, snuggly pillows. I'll get you as many pillows as you like, and you can sleep as long as you want. I'll make sure no one disturbs you, so you don't have to worry." Steve kept talking softly as they walked outside and towards the car, stopping when Loki stopped, but gently steering him back in the right direction. He kept mentioning the bed and sleeping, hoping to keep Loki's thoughts on that, to keep him calm.

He didn't need to turn around to know Howard's son was taking care of the staff. If he was anything like Howard, Steve knew he could count on him. Now he just had to keep Loki calm on the way to the Helicarier and into that bed. He had to concentrate on that now. Everything else could wait.


	2. When Lightning Rains

"All right, now just sit here, and I'm gonna strap you in." Loki startled at that, whole body tensing. "No, no. It's nothing scary, I'm gonna be right next to you the whole time. The straps are just so that if the jet hits turbulence you won't be thrown around." He slowly buckled him in. "Alright?" Steve kept eye contact until the panic cleared somewhat from those green-blue eyes. "Alright. Black Widow, we can go now."

She obeyed without a word. Loki kept glancing around himself, twitching and startling when the jet lifted off, but soothing reminders of sleep kept his from panicking too badly.

"Captain. A word please." Mr. Stark said, staring at them with a small frown.

"All right. Loki, I'll be right over there. I promise you're safe here, and we'll get you to that bed very soon."

"Bed." Loki said shakily, staring at him.

"That's right. A nice soft bed and as much sleep as you want."

Loki looked down shakily and grinned widely, nearly maniacally. "Sleep."

A little disturbed, the Captain stood and walked over to the front of the plane.

"So, what's the score, Cap? He faking it?"

"I don't think so. I've seen my fair share of brutalized people, soldiers and victims alike." Steve glanced over his shoulder at their 'passenger'. "It's pretty clear to me he's been brutalized too."

"Hate to admit it, but it's true. He's exhibiting clear signs of Post-Traumatic Stress."

"That's a mouthful. In my time we just called it Shell Shock."

"That's great, Capsicle. The thing I want to know is if we're sure he's not faking it."

Black Widow pursed her lips. "There's always a possibility."

"I don't know of anyone who could pretend to have eyes as haunted as that." The Captain said decisively, crossing his arms.

"Fine. Just don't be surprised when SHIELD whisks him away to examine every tiny inch of his insane head."

Loki flinched and made a low keening noise.

"Loki, hey, hey, hey, calm down." Steve was kneeling next to him in an instant, touching him gingerly, not wanting to spook him further. "No doctors, I swear, we'll just take you to bed and let you sleep, I promise. Maybe some food or maybe even a nice bath, doesn't that sound nice? And there won't be any doctors anywhere near you, I promise. Certainly no examinations. Just sleep, maybe some food, nothing else, I swear."

Slowly, the keening tapered off and Loki's breathing slowed somewhat. It was still too fast though, and his eyes danced madly around the interior of the plane.

"Loki, hey. Try to take deep breaths. In. Out. In. Out. Slowly, alright, c'mon. In. Out."

Eventually Loki's breathing evened out, and the pale man looked positively exhausted.

"Don't worry. We'll get you to that bed real soon." Steve took a risk, and petted the dark hair gently. Other than a twitch, Loki didn't react.

After a few minutes, Steve stood and walked calmly over to Mr. Stark. He showed him the hand he had petted Loki's head with.

"Tell me, Mr. Stark. Can he fake this?"

The glove was stained dark with blood.

.*~*.

They were in the air for almost a full half hour. Another half, and they should reach the Helicarrier, with Loki still somewhat calm. Lightning flashed very close to the hull, and Steve hoped it wouldn't slow them down too much.

"Captain, think there's something wrong with the wackadoodle."

Steve turned to look and frowned. In the span of a few moments, Loki had tensed so much that he was shaking again.

"Loki? What's wrong?" The Captain asked softly, taking a hold of the pale hands, rubbing his thumbs gently across the cool skin. "Don't be scared, it's just a little lightning. We're perfectly safe here, this plane is very modern from what I know. No reason to fear a little lightning, trust me."

Loki swallowed audibly, his eyes wide and dark with fear. "I'm not overly fond of what follows." he whispered, and blood was staining his teeth from where he'd bitten his tongue.

Steve wanted to keep talking, maybe even risk rubbing Loki's back a little, but then the jet jerked as _something_ landed on the roof.

"What the Hell was that?" Mr. Stark asked, flipping his helmet back on.

Then the back of the plane got ripped open and they had their answer.

.*~*.

Thor slammed his brother into the ground and stood tall, staring at him.

"Get up, Loki." When his brother failed to obey, Thor grabbed his shoulder and hefted him to his feet, giving him a shake. "You will give up the Tesseract. Now."

Loki made a low noise, like a dying beast, and just shook.

Thor snarled and pushed Loki away, uncaring as he fell to the ground again. "Enough games, brother. You will not trick me again. You will give back the Tesseract, and we end this madness. And you come home." He added, his tone pleading.

But Loki didn't answer him. He continued staring at him with wide, wide eyes, shaking all over.

Thor almost believed him.

"Loki, enough. You will not trick me, I already told you so." He took a step forward, and grabbed Loki's neck, yanking him to his feet. "Now _where_ is the Tesseract?" he demanded, his voice booming across the forest.

Loki flinched, his eyes growing even wider, his breaths nothing more than gasps. A moment passed, then another, and Loki opened his mouth.

He screamed loudly, the sound shrill with fear. Loki's hands glowed green, power building against the slender fingers and he slammed them into Thor's chest. The thunderer was thrown backwards, tree trunks breaking from the impact of his body slamming into them.

When Thor finally landed, he surged to his feet with a snarl. "Fine then." He twirled Mjolnir in his grasp, scowling. "Then fight we shall."

A single blow from his mighty hammer threw Loki backwards and onto a large rock. Mjolnir was thrumming with power in his grasp, and Thor jumped up. He stood above his fallen brother, paying no heed to his keens. "Will you obey now, brother?"

Loki choked on a sob, and a flying armor slammed into the thunderer, throwing him into the trees once more.

.*~*.

Steve got the parachute harness off as soon as he landed and sprinted towards where he could see the two men fighting. He had to admit, the show of power was impressive, but they had more important things to worry about.

He tried to reason with them, but neither would listen. And when he saw the would-be god jumping into the air for what looked like a finishing blow, Steve didn't even think. He threw himself forward in a protective stance, shield raised above his head. The hammer slammed into it, and the resulting wave of pure energy washed over everything, leveling the forest within seconds.

The three men stared around at the destruction for a few moments, then Steve spoke.

"Are you willing to listen now?" He asked, his tone brooking no arguments.

The blond looked around at the mangled remains of the trees then nodded. "Aye. I am willing."

"Good. Where is Loki?"

"Are you my brother's minions then?" The blond asked, narrowing his eyes at them. "Or has he simply deceived you with his lies?"

Mr. Stark snorted, lifting his helmet. "Dude, did you not see him? Even I have serious doubts whether he's faking or not. That shit's just too real."

Steve ignored him, and took a step forward, straightening his back. "I asked you a question. Where is Loki?"

The blond scowled, but pointed at a nearby boulder. "He is there, cowering like the fearful snake he is."

"That's harsh, Goldilocks." Mr. Stark muttered then flew up onto the rock. "Cap, he's here!"

When Steve managed to climb atop the slippery rock, he found Loki huddled into a little ball, rocking back and forth, a perfect picture of misery and desolation.

Mr. Stark was sitting next to him, talking. "And then I just had to revamp the Ferrari's engine, I mean there was so much potential in those gears, you know? The outside was impressive but the insides had to be as impressive, so I took out that baby's engine, took it apart then put it back together. I added some better valves, some more pistons, better quality cylinders. Truth be told, when I finished it wasn't so much a car engine as a jet engine. I used the redesigns in one of my own jets, like the one we were flying in before Hippy von Blondlocks crashed the party. Anyway, when I completed the engine, I had to remake the exterior, cause the car would just peel like a banana when I'd accelerate, so I took that apart too and strengthened it with some adamantium, then I thought, what the Hell, and I added some steel and iradies alloy to further the elasticity. Then I-"

"I think he's calm now, Mr. Stark." Steve said, crouching next to Loki and petting his head for comfort.

"Cool. Nothing like a long ramble to soothe the savage beast or whatever. I'll radio Romanov, have her pick us up." Mr. Stark glanced down at the blond. "What about Hammer Time there?"

"We'll take him with us." Steve carefully gathered Loki into his arms and stood. "But in a different plane. I think he upsets Loki."

"Gee, what tipped you off? The fact that the douche threw him out of a plane at 30,000 feet or the fact that Loki's gone fetal?"

"Both. Just radio Black Widow so we can get out of here, Mr. Stark."

"Aye aye, Captain my Captain. And it's Tony, by the way. Well, Tony or His Magnificence the Iron Man Extraordinaire."

"... Tony it is, then."

.*~*.


	3. An Apple a Day

Steve frowned at Fury, hands clenching at his sides. "Sir, with all due respect, but I made him a promise."

"Captain, I know all about your promise. I understand you feel you are honor bound to keep it, but SHIELD has protocols to follow in these situations."

Steve pursed his lips. "I swore there would be no doctors."

"Was that before or after you became aware of bleeding wounds on his head?"

"...after, sir." The Captain admitted, voice still stubborn.

Fury sighed. "Look. A properly secured room is being prepared for Loki as we speak. You can take him straight there _after_ the examination. Not before. This is non-negotiable."

Steve stared at him stubbornly, but eventually the good soldier in him won out. "I understand, sir. But I believe that Loki will panic upon seeing a doctor. He reacted pretty strongly on the jet when Mr. Stark mentioned one."

"I could look him over." A new voice joined the conversation, and both men turned to face its source.

Bruce Banner winced slightly at suddenly being the center of attention, but continued. "During the years since... my accident, I've been offering my services as a doctor. I can look him over and bandage him up, I know enough first-aid. And I don't really look like a doctor, so Loki might let me."

Fury's one eyebrow furrowed. "And what if he has internal injuries?"

Bruce shrugged. "A thorough examination will just have to wait until after that nap. I can catalog all of his wounds and if it looks like he might have internal injuries, I'll sedate him and call for a SHIELD specialist." When it looked like Fury would disagree again, he added. "I should point out that Steve did promise, and Loki might demand he make good on it. If he loses trust in Steve, the one person he seems to count on, it might have serious repercussions."

"I have to agree with Doctor Banner." Agent Coulson said, standing behind the doctor. "Loki has shown considerable strength and abilities consistent with extensive combat training. He could cause severe damage were he to revert to the manic mindset he's shown in Germany."

Fury thought that over, then nodded. "Fine. Doctor Banner will do the preliminary examination, then Captain Rogers will escort Loki to the secure room. But after he wakes up, there will be a thorough examination, scans included, based on Banner's report. Are we understood?"

Steve saluted. "Yes, sir."

*~*

"Loki? This is my friend, Bruce. He'll look you over and take care of any wounds you have."

Loki sat on the single examination table, staring blankly into space, whole body shivering. Truth be told, he hadn't really moved much since his encounter with Thor.

Steve licked his lips, then leaned down, so that he could look Loki in the eyes. "I'm so sorry about this, but you're hurt. I swear that bed is waiting for you. Just a little bit longer, okay?"

Loki didn't answer, just stared at him.

"Loki, please. We won't do anything to you unless you agree to it."

Slowly, the green eyes turned to Bruce, still not blinking.

The human smiled. "Hello. My name is Bruce Banner. Is it okay for me to look you over?"

Loki stared at him, then his face split into a manic grin, head twitching. "You want to cut me open, don't you? Cut me open and see what's inside. What makes me tick, what makes me obey." He grinned wider and turned back to face Steve, eyes haunted. "Cut me open to see me _bleed_."

Steve paled slightly at the intense gaze.

"Of course not." Bruce protested vehemently, then softened his tone. "I know you're hurt and I just want to make you stop hurting. So that you can sleep and not have to worry that you'll wake up if you roll over wrong and start to bleed."

"That's right." Steve smiled softly. "Wouldn't you like that? Not hurting while you sleep?"

"Sleep." Loki hissed, green eyes glowing brighter. "You _lied_."

"I didn't lie, I swear, Loki. I promised no doctors, and Bruce isn't a medical doctor. I promised you sleep, and that bed is waiting for you. I even asked Agent Hill for lots of pillows for you. You just have to wait a little longer, okay? Just a little longer, Loki. Bruce will look you over, then I'll take you straight to that bed. Trust me. Okay?"

Loki stared at him for a few moments more, then the glow disappeared from his eyes. His clothes disappeared also, melting away into a green mist.

Steve leaned back, staring in horror at the revealed skin. Every inch of it was covered in rough scars, wounds and nearly black bruises. Littered across the pale body were scratches and what looked like cuts, most still oozing blood. Some places looked like claws had ripped the skin, others looked like the skin had been peeled off, the flesh puffy with infection.

Steve closed his eyes, not willing to look further. "All right. Thank you, Loki."

"I'll try to keep this short." Bruce said, stepping closer. "And I will have to touch you. Will you allow it?"

Loki jerked at the mention of physical contact, but nodded, still staring at Steve with those haunting eyes.

*~*

"Hey all, how's it going?" Tony asked, sauntering into the examination room.

"Mr. St- Tony. Would you mind leaving, I think Loki would appreciate some privacy." Steve admonished him with a slight frown.

The billionaire ignored him and turned to the 'patient'. "Yo, Lok-Meister. Love the whole mummy-shtick you've got going. Latest fab, or what?" He pushed a styrofoam cup with a straw into the pale hands. "Drink up, it's dinner." Loki stared at him, hands twitching. "Hey, no worries. That there, my unhinged friend, is my own copyrighted recipe. I call it The Tony Stark All Meals Included Slushie, packed so much with nutrients and vitamins that my dietitian cried when he saw it. Or how I call it, food. Didn't the Capsicle promise you food? I know, I know, Steve-o promised a sandwich, but the quality of food here could bring down an elephant, you have those on your planet? Big ass animal, long story short. Seriously big, biggest on the planet, if you ignore giraffes and whales and those sharks that can bite me in half without breaking a sweat. Do fish sweat under water, I don't even know."

During the long speech, Loki continued staring at him, green eyes glistering. But he also slowly brought the cup to his lips and started drinking through the straw.

Tony grinned at him, then pretended to think hard while he looked over all the bandages now covering Loki's body. "Dude, those bandages suit you like a wet cat suits an unprotected face. Very torture victim. And the one's on your legs? They just scream fabulous, though in my opinion there's too much white. Is the buzz cut the piece de resitance?"

"I couldn't get to his head wounds otherwise." Bruce explained, carefully wrapping a fresh bandage around the skull.

"Love it, very medieval. All the ladies will swarm to you and give you lots of cuddles, you just see."

Loki swallowed the last mouthful, then lowered the cup, not letting it go.

"See, was I right or was I correct? Good, huh? After you wake up there'll be plenty more. By the way, that special room is all finished. The pillows fluffed and the sheets crispy clean. I even got you a Captain America plushie to snuggle with."

Steve startled at the last part, then nodded at him. "Thank you, Tony. Loki, did you hear that? I'll take you to sleep as soon as Bruce finishes."

"Which would be now." Bruce said, securing the last bandage in place. "I think you should wear some scrubs though, just for the walk."

"Why? He could moon Fury. That would be a sight."

Loki twitched in answer, body still shivering.

"I think we can take that as a 'Sure, go right ahead'." Tony said, taking a step back while Steve coaxed Loki's bandaged legs into the provided pants. Once dressed, Loki slowly slipped from the table and back onto his feet, swaying dangerously.

Steve grabbed him by one arm and Loki jerked sharply, as if to get away. "Easy, Loki, it's okay. Just a little walk and then a nice comfortable bed and warm sheets." Steve said gently, guiding him from the room.

"I'll take you." Tony offered, striding past them. "Just follow the awesome that is me. You can't miss it, I was told I stink of genius from a distance."

The walk to the secure room was thankfully short, and soon Loki was standing by a large bed, staring almost hungrily at the myriad of pillows covering it.

"Looks comfy, doesn't it?" Steve said, urging him forward. "Just hop in and you can sleep."

Loki obeyed, climbing onto the bed and nestling under the covers. Steve pulled two more blankets over him, tucking in the corners. "There. Isn't that better?"

In response, Loki burrowed under the many pillows with a deep sigh.

Steve reached into the pile of covers and started gently petting the bandaged head. "See? Like I promised. I'm sorry it took so long, but now you can sleep as much as you want. No one will disturb you here, no one at all."

The green eyes slid shut, and the face disappeared under another pillow, the malnourished body relaxing.

Steve continued petting his head until he was certain Loki had fallen asleep, then he stood and walked over to the open doorway where Tony stood, waiting. They exited into the hallway, and the door slid shut, a SHIELD Agent moving to stand in front of it.

"Fury wants to see us." Tony said, already walking away. "He wants to debrief us, which is always _such_ a joy."

Steve followed him reluctantly, looking over his shoulder at the closed door. "You sure Loki'll be okay in there?"

"That slushie I gave him contained some sedatives. Coulson's idea. They should keep him under for at least six hours. Plus, those walls are pure titanium. They normally use that room to store dangerous explosives."

Steve frowned at him. "To store _what_?"

"Boom sticks and kablam-o-boxes." Tony glanced at him out of the corner of one eye. "But I think you should worry more about the debrief. Blondy McHammer-Happy will be there."

"I thought he was supposed to be locked up."

"He was, in the Hulk cage. But apparently Goldilocks made some appealing arguments."

Steve scowled darkly and quickened his pace. "Good. I have a few words I'd like to share with him."


	4. Words of Meaning

Steve's lips tightened in displeasure as soon as he entered the conference room. He glared for a moment at the Asgardian standing in from of the monitors, then marched up to Fury.

“Sir.” He said, back ramrod straight. “I believe in Loki's current condition, we can respect his right to privacy.” He said, indicating the large screen showing Loki's sleeping form. Or what could be seen of it under all those blankets.

The blond menace from earlier scoffed. “My brother is a treacherous trickster. One cannot trust neither his words nor his actions.”

Steve's fists clenched, but before he could share his opinion on _that_ , Tony snorted loudly.

“Will all due offense to HammerTime and his prize winning alliteration, but who the hell is he and what is he full off?”

The blond frowned. “I do not understand.”

“It means I'm gonna go with the torture victim and not the mountain of muscle that threw him out of a fucking airplane.”

“I did what I had to free you of the influence of Loki and his lying wiles. You should be thanking me, mortal.”

“Thanking you?” Steve bit out, taking an outraged step towards the blond. “You ripped open our plane, kidnapped someone who did little more than shake, dropped him from 30,000 feet then you battered him with your hammer till he could barely blink! We should be thanking you for that?!”

The Asgardian blinked at him slowly, clearly not anticipating such a reaction. “You do not understand. My brother Loki-”

“Is barely able to stand on his own! What kind of idiot are you not to see that?!”

The blond's face twisted into a scowl and he lifted his hammer threateningly. “You dare insult the son of Odin?” He asked lowly, his voice a deep growl.

If he thought that would intimidate Steven Rogers with that, he was sorely mistaken. “I dare insult the entitled bully who should never have been released from his cell!” Steve growled back, swinging his shield from his back to his front.

“You will hold your tongue, mortal!”

“Stand down or I will bring you down!”

“Gentlemen!” Fury called loudly, his voice booming across the conference room. “I can understand the difference in opinions, but as long as you are on _my_ Helicarier, you will behave yourselves. Are we understood? Captain?” Steve pursed his lips, but nodded sharply. “Thor?” The Asgardian was still scowling, but he lowered the hammer. “Very good. Now let's get the introductions out of the way, shall we? This is Thor, son of Odin, Prince of Asgard and Loki's adopted brother. These are the members of the Avengers Initiative. Say hello everyone.”

There was no reaction from anyone in the room. Well, Tony did wiggle his fingers a little.

“Excellent. Doctor Banner.” Fury turned to the scientist. “What is Loki's physical condition?”

Banner shook his head slowly. “Not good by a long shot. I counted nine obviously broken bones that hadn't been set right. Possibly more, you'll have to scan him for that. He doesn't seem to have any internal injuries other than severe bruising to most of his organs, especially within the abdomen. Externally he's covered in what looks like whip marks, both healed and not. He also shows signs of a thorough beating or fifty, as well as marks as if someone cut him open at one point, which would explain his comment and general jumpiness when I moved too suddenly. I'm not sure about the numerous other wounds on him, because I'm not that adept with torture, but I'm sure you'll figure it out.” Banner checked his notes again. “The head wounds aren't life-threatening, just deep enough to hurt and keep bleeding.” He cleared his throat awkwardly. “I didn't check so as not to push Loki into a panic attack, but I'm fairly certain there are also signs of both anal and vaginal rape.”

Steve frowned in confusion. “But he's a man.”

Bruce shrugged. “I caught a glimpse of it during the examination, so I'm fairly sure he has both sets of genitalia. And considering everything his captors had subjected him to, rape is not that unlikely.”

“That's just great.” Fury sighed roughly. “And how is he mentally?”

“Mentally, from what I saw, he's a bag of cats, you can smell crazy on him.” He ignored Thor's glare. “He's calm right now, but I'm fairly certain that can change at a moment's notice.”

Thor snorted loudly and crossed his arms. “You are all fools to believe my brother's lies. It is merely a trick of his, an illusion.” He grinned ruefully. “My brother is well known for his trickery. It would do you well to heed my words.”

Steve's hand tightened on the straps of his shield, Tony threw his arms up in exasperation and Bruce gave the blond a deadpan look, then turned to Fury. “Director, I'm fairly positive that you had Loki's examination monitored. I also assume that you took some photos. Could you?” He gestured towards Thor.

Fury's single eye narrowed, his lips pursing. Then he turned to Agent Coulson. “Screen three.”

The Agent nodded and motioned to an underling. A moment later, one of the screens switched from viewing Loki's resting form. It now displayed... a wound. Long and puckered, the edges yellow and infected. The image changed, now showing a pale chest and one large bruise spread out over nearly the entire expanse of it. A few close ups followed, each showing what looked like a sea of small scars and a rib, but oddly crooked, the bone sticking sharply forward. A few images more, each showing a limb, the bones laying crookedly under the skin. Another bruise, this one on the leg and just as large, the knee swollen. Another wound, jagged and surprisingly like a bite. A piece of skin, puckered and shining with burn marks. A close up to one of the tiny scars, looking surprisingly like a stab wound. Another wound, open and gaping. Another. And another.

The images flew across the screen, each one showing a wound, a bruise, a welt. Many followed, and Steve swallowed slowly. He had seen Loki's wounds before, had already seen all that pain. Yet somehow, seeing each one separately, each one so clear, made it all seem so much worse.

Good Lord, how was Loki still alive? How was he even able to move as well as he did?

Thor, on the other hand, had a different opinion.

“Enough of this, mortal!” He yelled, slamming his hammer into the table. His face was ghostly pale, lips pressed into a tight line. “I will not be swayed by my brother's lies! Those images, as disturbing as they are, are nothing more than an illusion brought forth by my brother's magic!”

Fury crossed his arms at the display. “And what makes you so sure that these are all a trick?”

“My brother is a Son of Odin.” He said, conviction ringing in his voice. “He has been trained in combat since childhood. He is the most skilled sorcerer in the Nine Realms. I know the extent of his skills and strengths well. He would _not_ allow himself to be brutalized thus!”

“Unless he got put through the wringer by someone way stronger than him.” Steve pointed out with a glare. “Ever thought of that?”

“None are stronger than the House of Odin.” Thor growled stubbornly, a note of finality in his voice.

Steve took a step forward, voice hard. “An attitude like that only means that's a lie.”

“Excuse me.” They all turned to Agent Romanov. “But am I the only one who still remembers that Loki stole a valuable artifact, enslaved our Agents, maimed and or killed people, and caused chaos in at least two places on the globe? We still have to figure out what to actually do with him and how to get our people back.”

“There, see!” Thor yelled triumphantly. “My brother's villainous ways are clear. If we do not stop him, actually stop him and not coddle him like you've been doing, he will only cause further mayhem.”

Tony rubbed his temple thoughtfully. “That's the thing, did he even kill anybody? He doesn't seem, what's the word, steady enough to me. I'd even say he'd sooner fall over from the weight of the knife.”

“Shut up, Stark.” Natasha said, face unreadable.

“He gouged out one eye, but the victim is in the hospital.” Agent Coulson said, checking on a tablet. “According to the doctors, his life is in no danger.”

“That's a no. So, in other words, he only brainwashed a few SHIELD guys and took one eyeball. Doesn't seem that villainous to me.”

“Actually, I'm not that certain he wasn't controlled by that staff himself.” Banner said, staring at the screen thoughtfully.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I saw the footage SHIELD's got. In Germany, Loki's behavior was manic, twitchy and disturbing as hell. But after he let go of the staff, he's allowed himself to be practically lead by the hand, more or less calm and obedient.”

“You think it affects his moods?”

“I think it's more a case of changing the thought processes rather than moods. But it's just a theory, I won't know more until I conduct tests.”

“Fine.” Fury nodded sharply at him. “You and Stark get to work on that. By the end of this week I want to know whether or not Loki is a wicked witch or a flying monkey.”

Thor frowned in confusion. “I do not understand.”

“I do!” Steve cried, feeling proud of himself. “I understood that reference.”

Tony rolled his eyes, and motioned to Banner. “Shall we play, Doctor?”

“Sure.” Bruce nodded, leading Tony towards the labs.

“By the way, Doctor Banner, I'm a big fan of your work.”

*~*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: No, Loki isn't a hemaphrodite because of plot reasons. I just like the idea that Jotunns are bi-gendered. Thank you.


	5. Hawk, Hawk, Burning Bright

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is a spoof of William Blake's poem The Tiger

The blue light glowed, but no one really noticed. They were all too busy yelling hurtful words at each other, and the light thrummed with each word of hate and anger. It pulsed faster and faster, each time an action it desired happened.

A black jet landed in the bay, blue-eyed agents spreading across the Helicarrier.

A green tinted hand grabbed the staff, taking it closer to a source of rage.

Loki flinched and woke, opening bleary eyes and breath hitching as he moved out of his nest of blankets.

A bow string was pulled tight, an electronic arrow pointed accurately.

A blue-eyed agent lowered himself from an air vent and crept up behind Loki's single guard.

Sure hands placed explosives in strategic locations and set the charges.

The blue light abated slightly, allowing a moment of calm to settle over all present. Then the charges exploded, destroying the turbine, and the arrow hit its target, taking down the computer systems.

The blue gem preened as chaos erupted.

*~*

The agent guarding Loki's cell jumped when the explosion sounded, clutching at the wall as the whole ship surged and shook. He had a split second to notice someone grabbing his head from behind before there was a sharp yank and his spine was severed.

The blue-eyed agent took a moment to just blink at the lifeless body, then crouched in front of the electronic lock, trying to crack the opening sequence. He paid no attention to the chaos around him, though he did pause slightly when the Hulk roared. He waited a moment to determine in which direction the beast was moving, then hastened his efforts.

When the doors finally opened, the agent found Loki already sitting on the bed and staring sadly at the floor.

"Sir? We need to go now."

"No." Loki whispered, rocking slowly back and forth. "Sleep. He promised."

"Sir."

"He _promised_." Loki hissed, hands clenching into white fists.

"Sir, Agent Hawkeye ordered me to get you to the jet." The agent went on, shooting two agents coming at them from down the hall . "He gave the order the highest priority."

Loki's head swayed from side to side. "My Hawk?"

"Yes, Sir. I will take you to him."

Loki stared at him, face pale and eyes wet with exhausted tears. After a moment, he got up off the bed, and moved unsteadily to the door.

"This way, Sir. Agent Hawkeye is waiting for us by the Hulk cage."

Loki didn't answer, just kept going shakily forward.

*~*

The alarm sounded and Steve wanted nothing more than to run to Loki's cell and make sure he was still in there, safe and hopefully not too agitated. He wasn't certain he'd be able to calm Loki down, considering the blare of alarms and red alerts. But then people started shooting, and Steve dived for his shield. Loki will just have to wait in his armored room. Hopefully he would be okay.

*~*

Thor rushed through the air fortress's corridors, searching frantically for his villainous brother. He was more than certain Loki would use the situation to escape. He was also more than certain that his brother had orchestrated the attack. Such underhanded tactics were his brother's specialty after all. He always did prefer skulking about in the shadows like a cowardly snake instead of honorably facing his opponent. Thor knew in his valiant heart that _this_ would surely convince the Midgardians that Loki was a lying cur. This was proof that Loki's injuries had been a ruse to make them lower their guard. But Thor knew Loki too well to fall for that.

He finally spotted Loki near the glass cage. With a mighty roar, Thor threw himself at his brother, hoping to tackle him into submission. Instead, the thunderer went through Loki's body, falling into the glass cage.

Blast his brother's tricks!

Thor jumped to his feet and looked around, easily spotting his brother.

Loki was grinning madly, fakely wide eyes shining and mockingly shaking hands curled against his chest. "Are you ever not going to fall for that?" he asked, voice almost hysterically high.

Thor frowned at him. The odd behavior coupled with the bandages covering so much of Loki's too pale skin made a very convincing image. But, Thor thought with a scowl, there was no better Liar than Loki.

"Release me at once, brother!" he demanded with a mighty punch to the glass wall. He paused in confusion when Loki flinched and stumbled away. But no, he would not be fooled. "Your games won't work on me!"

Loki just stared at him, his eyes oddly unfocused. Thor almost frowned at the lack of reaction, but he stubbornly kept his face in a stern expression. He would not give in to his brother's acting, no matter how convincing it was.

Movement from his right caught Thor's attention, and he glanced to the side. A Midgardian man stood near a console, his eyes shining with the blue of mind-control.

"Sir?" Loki twitched sharply and turned unsteadily to face the human. "Sir. What do you want to do?"

Loki stared at him, then turned back slowly to stare at the thunderer, eyes wide. He stood motionless for a long while, barely even blinking, pale hands hanging limp by his sides. Thor suddenly became aware of an ominous feeling swelling up in his belly.

The corner of Loki's mouth twitched and his eyes swelled with madness, his face twisting into a vicious snarl. The change was so sudden that Thor took a startled step back.

"Make him _fall_." Loki hissed, lips twisting into a monstrous grin.

Thor stared at him in shock, frozen to the spot. This wasn't a trick, was it?

He almost didn't notice when the floor opened up beneath the cage and he fell crashing to the Midgard ground.

*~*

"Status on Loki!" Steve demanded through the comm for the eighth time, but once again no one answered him. He could understand why, the Helicarrier was pure chaos. Agents were either attacking or running somewhere to do urgent repairs. No one had time to worry about Loki as well.

But then Stark yelled at him to help fix the turbines before they crashed to their collective deaths, and Steve no longer had the time to worry about Loki either. Saving the ship took precedence.

*~*

Loki kept staring at the spot his brother had disappeared through, sharp teeth worrying at his lower lip. He didn't move even when a strong blast blew a large hole in the wall, nor when the agent who had freed him was knocked unconscious in a brief scuffle. He startled violently when someone touched him gently on the arm, and he jumped back with a hiss.

Agent Coulson put up his hands, palms up. "Calm down." He said softly, tone soothing. "It's just me. Do you remember me?"

Loki kept his teeth bared, face muscles spasming.

"My name is Phil. We met when you first came here." No reaction from Loki, so Coulson changed tactics.. "I'm a friend of Steve's. You remember Steve, yes?"

Loki twitched, and his body relaxed slightly, no longer shaking with tension. "Sleep. He promised."

"Yes, exactly. And he didn't break his word. This... situation wasn't his idea. If you want, I can take you back to your bed. It was a very comfortable bed, wasn't it?" Loki nodded minutely, expression wistful. "It's still right there, just waiting for you. I promise I'll stay with you to make sure nothing else disturbs you while you sleep. You want to sleep, right?"

The Asgardian nodded and took a tiny step towards Coulson. But suddenly Loki flinched sharply, his back curling. Slowly, one pale hand rose and extended forwards as if reaching for something. A second later, the shaking fingers closed around the shaft of the staff which definitely hadn't been there a moment before. A burst of light seemed to erupt from the point of contact, enveloping Loki's trembling body.

When it passed, Loki was once again dressed in armor, his bandaged scalp hidden under the horned helmet. He straightened slowly, with effort, then looked around the room with wide open eyes before turning to face Coulson again.

He grinned sharply, viciously, the muscles under one eye twitching. "You will all _kneel_." he said maliciously, teeth clenched so tightly his gums turned white. He then aimed the staff at him, the tip glowing brightly, hotly, the air crackling with a charge of energy.

Before Coulson could duck out of the way of the incoming blast, a hard fist slammed into the base of his skull. The Agent fell to the floor, dazed, and could do nothing as his assailant delivered a series of five well-aimed blows, each one landing on a nerve cluster. When it was over, Coulson wouldn't have been able to get up even if he wasn't unconscious.

Hawkeye stared at the knocked out Agent, then turned his gaze to his Boss.

Loki grin widely at him. "Such violence, my Hawk."

"He's good at controlling all kinds of situations, Boss. You can't listen to him next time."

Loki shivered, his face twitching. "Sleep is good." he whispered, his voice unsteady and slightly hopeful.

"You'll sleep once it's done." Hawkeye stepped forward and grabbed Loki's arm, pulling him out of the room. "You still have a job to do."

Loki stared blankly ahead, but he nodded slowly nonetheless. "Yes. It's important." The staff in his hand pulsed, and the manic grin returned. "It needs to be done. He's waiting."

"Exactly, Boss." Hawkeye propelled him forward, his keen eyes turning to look to the side when a roar sounded across the ship. "You go on ahead to the jet. I have one more thing to do."

Loki straightened shakily, then walked down the corridor, the staff guiding him in the right direction. Hawkeye sprinted down the opposite way, his mind formulating several plans on how to entice the Hulk into more destruction. The more the green monster smashed, the easier it would be for the Boss to get away and continue on with the plan.

*~*

The staff pulsed in Loki's grip, power thrumming around the tip. It flashed briefly when Black Widow knocked Hawkeye out of its control, but the staff could not reclaim the archer's mind, so it settled. No matter. There was still a job to be done.

Loki curled up tightly in one of the seats on the jet, staring sightlessly into the blue glow. The job _had_ to be done. Then he would sleep.

*~*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: There, another chapter done. I'm gonna try (TRY, please remember that) to get the next chapter up by Christmas. Here's hoping.


	6. Speak the Truth as You See It

Thor made his slow way through the field, following the thrum of Mjolnir's power. He soon noticed her nestled among the grass and he reached out to lift her. He hesitated though, staring at his hammer. A short time ago he had been unworthy of her, too rash and quick to judgment. Had he been rash again? Was he unworthy once more?

In that moment, that short second before the glass cell had been dropped, Loki had stood so close. Thor saw into his eyes and saw nothing but madness and pain. Nothing but black darkness in his brother's face.

Was it truly not a trick then? Were the wounds real, from those tiny scratches to parts of skin flayed off? He felt angry at Loki for not protecting himself better, for not coming home, for letting go of the spear. He felt angry at himself for not taking proper care of his baby brother, for not finding him sooner, for not catching him before he fell. But maybe even if the madness was real, the wounds were not? It might still be a play to gain sympathy from weak-willed Midgardians, and Thor felt familiar anger swell in his chest.

But no. Thor took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. No.

He needed to see his brother. He needed to see his brother's wounds, with his own eyes, not through a machine screen. Needed to touch those wounds, smell them, feel them. He needed to be sure they won't disappear like illusions do. Then he would know for certain. Only then.

*~*

Fury stalked into the conference room and glared at everyone gathered. "Would someone care to explain to me what the fuck just happened on my ship?"

Black Widow blinked at him, staying silent. Sitting next to her, Barton stared at him with slightly bleary eyes, hands shaking ever so slightly. Coulson stood behind him, keeping a hand on the back of the archer's neck, both for comfort and for security reasons. Stark was standing near one of the monitors, muttering to himself and checking his tablet every other second. Banner was MIA, so was Thor.

The Captain drew himself to his full height, meeting Fury's angry gaze without flinching. "Sir. It appears we have been infiltrated by the enemy brainwashed agents. They set explosives around the ship, making it non-operational and thus ensuring we would be too busy trying to stay in the air to stop them. During that time, they have taken Loki, retrieved the staff and caused considerable damage to both the aircraft and our men. Sir."

"That was remarkably _obvious_ , Captain." Fury hissed, not at all impressed. "Care to try explaining the how?"

Steve pursed his lips, but said nothing.

"Thought so. Anyone else?" Silence. "Well, come on now, people. You are supposed to be my best. Act like it."

"He needs to finish that machine." Barton muttered, lifting his gaze. "He's gonna concentrate on that."

"You sure?"

"Positive." Barton nodded, his eyes turning unfocused for a moment, his tone flat, emotionless. "It needs to be done."

"Way to be creepy." Stark called, his back still to them all.

Fury glared at the billionaire. "Care to enlighten us on what is so damn important you can't take part in this debrief?"

"Not particularly."

"Stark, so help me God, I am not in the mood for your bullshit."

"Fine, I can share. Let no one say I'm not a sharer. Or a giver. Whatever, I'm it. JARVIS, pull up the data onto the large screen."

"Right away, sir." The slightly mechanical voice said through the nearest comm unit, and the monitor activated itself.

Fury's one eye twitched. "Did your AI butler just talk through my speaker system?"

"Don't be so surprised, I've had your mainframe hacked practically since the moment I came on board." Tony said in a matter-of-fact tone, sorting through schemata and graphs on the largest conference screen.

A muscle in Fury's face spasmed sharply, and he gritted his teeth. "Just tell me what you found out before I let Coulson taser your ass into Kingdom come."

"Bruce hooked up the staff to a gamma reader before the shit hit the fan. It recorded a series of irregular spikes and fluctuations. However, they become extremely well-timed if you compare them to the video footage of the attack."

"What the Hell does that mean?" Fury demanded, stalking forward.

"Each time the flying monkeys did something, like set a charge or hacked Loki's doors, there was a fluctuation. Small ones, but notable nonetheless."

"You think they're not accidental?"

"Hell no. Especially considering whenever Loki did anything, there's a spike. See the difference, these are small, Loki's are bigger. JARVIS, play gamma readout and security footage simultaneously."

"Yes, sir." The AI obliged, and Tony helpfully started pointing out the relative data.

"Here's a spike, Loki wakes up. Here's another spike, and Loki follows the agent out the door. Here's a fascinating part, see?" He pointed at a series of photos of Loki and the agent walking down a corridor. "Loki tries to turn around, probably to go back to bed or something, we have a spike and voila, Loki goes back down the corridor like an obedient little lamb with severe mental problems." Fury stared thoughtfully at the data. "And last but not least, here we have the biggest spike on the whole damn chart, it practically goes off it. Same time, the staff teleports itself to Loki, and I still claim that's cheating, and Loki goes back to being the overlord jackass we first met him as."

"This almost looks like the staff is calling the shots." Natasha said, slowly, forehead furrowing thoughtfully.

"But wait, there's more." Tony scrolled on. "No one turned off Bruce's gamma scanner, the one that was supposed to scan the entire planet, so I've got more data after the staff disconnected itself. Here we have a spike and Loki tricking Thor. No spike when Thor goes down, though, I think there might be some history there. Here's another while Loki talks with Barton. One more here while Loki blew the bay doors, and last one when he boarded the jet. After that, zilch. They probably have shielding or something."

"It definitely looks like the staff is calling the shots." Romanov added, looking meaningfully at Fury. "Seems oddly convenient."

"It's a mindcontrolling staff and a god crazier than a spoiled kid in Toys'R'Us at Christmas." Fury said, scowl firmly in place. "For the moment, I'll satisfy myself with 'convenient'."

"Hey, facts are facts." Tony said, pointing out more correlations between the readouts and the footage. "Each time there's a bigger spike, Loki does his own version of 'Why so serious?' The more creepy version."

"Why so serious?" Steve repeated, confused.

Tony waved his hand dismissively. "It's a movie reference. Basically, giant grin, crazy eyes and fiery chaos."

"Ah." Steve was slightly uncomfortable at how accurate that sounded.

"Thank you for that colorful description, but what the Hell does all this even mean?" Fury demanded, rubbing his brow tiredly.

Tony scratched his chin. "I seriously doubt this is complete mind control, Loki wouldn't be acting so crazy if that were the case. I think Bruce was right about the staff changing the thought processes."

"As in?"

Tony pointed out the first of the large energy spikes and a photo of when Loki magicked himself back into armor."I bet my Tower that up to this point, Loki's thoughts were something like 'Sleep, sleep, sleep, why did this motherfucker wake me, sleep'. But after this spike, the big one right here, his thoughts were more like 'Make them kneel, take over Earth, be a dickhead'. Get my point?"

Agent Coulson cocked his head at the screens. "You're right. He's still twitchy and unstable, just more..."

"Driven." Steve finished, finally seeing it. "Like he has a purpose."

"A glorious purpose." Fury muttered, eyes narrowed. "Barton, would you say this is an accurate description of the mind-control?"

"Not sure." Hawkeye shrugged, glaring slightly at the monitor. "All I know is that it didn't feel like mind-control. I felt like me, just my priorities had changed."

"Meaning?" Coulson prompted, his fingers flexing against the agent's nape.

Hawkeye was silent for a long moment, then muttered silently. "The job is most important. Everything else is for later. Everything else can wait."

"Are those Loki's orders?" Fury asked, staring at him.

"...truth be told, no one ever told me anything. Loki just said what was supposed to be the end result, and me and Selvig thought up the rest. Selvig said what he needed, I procured it, Loki either twitched in a corner or stared into the staff talking to someone. Before you ask, I have no damn idea who he was talking to. Might've been air for all I saw."

"Wonderful. Then in your opinion Loki isn't really much of a threat."

"He's too unstable to be a threat. But he is dangerous. There's no doubt about that."

Fury huffed in angry frustration then turned back to the rest. "So what do you propose we do about our little situation then?"

"That's simple." Tony said "All we need to do is get that staff away from Loki, and Capsicle will be able to talk him down again. Easy-peasy. Then we ask him to call off his minions and we're done."

"One little detail you're forgetting, Stark." Fury pointed out, eying the monitor. "We have to find Loki first. _Before_ he opens the damn portal, if you'd please."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm on it like on a supermodel." Tony said, already walking towards his lab, tapping away at his tablet.

"The rest of you, go rest. Barton, you tell Stark everything you know about Loki's portal opener, then sedate yourself. Romanov, watch him."

"Sir."

*~*

"Tony? How are you doing?" Steve asked, peeking his head into the lab.

"Still nada." Tony said, staring intently at a computer screen.

"It's been an hour." He pointed out, stepping further into the room.

"I know, but I'm not the gamma radiation expert. I barely know how to calibrate the search. You found Bruce yet?"

"No, but Thor's turned up."

"What is Blondie Hammerton up to?"

~

Thor sat in the conference room, staring intently at the mechanical page. He touched the screen and the picture dutifully enlarged, showing a deep slash across his brother's pale side, the edges ragged and blood still flowing.

Angry lightning sparks danced across his clenched fingers, some snagging against the device and driving deep into the wiring. A moment passed, and the device exploded.

"Another!" Thor called, throwing the destroyed mechanical page to the pile of its damaged brethren. A nearby agent immediately handed him a new mechanical page, already showing his brother's next injury.

Thor needed to see each and every one of these 'wounds' (Dear Allfather, let them still be 'wounds' and not wounds). So that he would know what Loki's body looked like, illusion or not. He would not be taken off guard. He needed to keep a level head in this.

~

"You don't really want to know." Steve said slowly, remembering the scene of Thor sitting hunched over a tablet, looking like he might cry and/or start screaming.

"Don't really care either way." Tony checked a different computer and started tapping on the keyboard rapidly.

"Did you find something?"

"In a way. He's not in Wellingradstan."

"Where?"

"Small village. They do have an enormous nuclear power plant."

Steve's brows drew together in confusion. "Is it emitting gamma radiation?"

"No, but the portal generator Barton described will need a mega-strong power source. So while Bruce's program is scanning the globe, I'm keeping an eye on the big power plants."

"That's smart thinking, Tony." Steve had not thought about how much would it take to power the device. "Do you think we will be able to find him?"

"If Selvig's running the scientific side of things, it shouldn't be that hard. The number of suitable power sources he knows about is definitely limited, cause I doubt he has high enough clearance. Plus he probably needs space and quiet to assemble the portal thingy. Also, the logical thing is using a power source close to or inside a larger city, so that the invasion could start right away, without giving the natives time to arm themselves or fight back."

Steve stared at him. "You studied military tactics?"

"Used to be a war-merchant, remember? You gotta know the playing field if you wanna do business in it. Dammit!" Tony straightened, rubbing his face wearily. "I'm beginning to get frustrated here. I know he's in the US somewhere, moving the operation would take too much time."

"Perhaps they are laying low."

"Doubt it. You heard Barton, finishing the job takes precedence. They're here somewhere." Tony looked from one screen to the next, frowning in frustration and muttering to himself. "He'll probably be close, somewhere visible but secure. Somewhere high up, with a clear path to the sky, too high to be threatened. Possibly inside a bigger city, but within close range to a power source. A large power source, he'll probably need a shit-load of juice to open something big enough to let an army through. An unlimited- Son of a bitch." Tony blinked, then got up and moved to the exit.

"Tony?" Steve hurried after him. "Where are you going?"

"I've got a hunch. A big hunch, a strong hunch, a gut-punch hunch. Assemble everybody, just to be sure, I'll go on ahead."

"Go where?"

"My tower."

*~*


	7. It Must Be Done

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter might be a little confusing, because I wrote it to interlace with the movie. I left out the battle scenes I hadn't changed, so you might wanna watch the film again before reading. Or not, up to you.
> 
> Enjoy.

Loki stood on the very ledge of the roof, the staff clutched tightly in his hand. His head hung forward limply as he stared downwards, eyes wide and non-blinking as he gazed into the sheer drop. He couldn't even see the Midgardians milling around like ants, like flies, like insects to be _crushed_! Make them kneel for their _masters_!  
  
His fingers tightened on the staff and he stared downwards.  
  
“Sir?” One of his minions stood too close, too suddenly, and Loki flinched sharply. “Sir, Iron Man has landed a few levels below. Do you want me to take him out?”  
  
 _yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes_ sang in his mind, but Loki shook his head sharply. “Who?” he asked, his voice a tired croak.  
  
“Iron Man, Sir. Tony Stark.”  
  
 _“I named it The Tony Stark All Meals Included Slushie. Or how I call it, food.”_ Loki blinked slowly. “Stark.”  
  
“Yes, Sir.” The minion gave a single nod. “Do you wish me to take him out?”  
  
 _doitdoitdoitdoitdoitdoit_ rang in his mind, and Loki squeezed his eyes tightly, trying to gather his thoughts together despite the alien whispers. He clenched his teeth and hissed, his face twisting into a snarl.  
  
“Sir?” The minion called, knowing better than to touch him. “Sir, I believe Tony Stark should be taken care of before we open the portal. He is known for causing trouble to all operations, even his own.”  
  
Loki twisted around sharply, fully intending on smashing the minion's face in. But then his glowing blue eyes registered in his muddled mind, and he blinked thoughtfully.  
  
“No.” Loki breathed, a shaking hand pulling his helmet off and letting it drop onto the terrace several levels below. “I will deal with Stark myself.”  
  
“Yes, Sir.” The minion saluted and left, joining Selvig by the machine. Loki stared at them, then stumbled off the ledge, nearly falling down to his knees. But he was Loki, the voice whispered into his mind. He was made to rule. So he straightened his legs and walked on.  
  
*~*  
  
Loki was already waiting for him when Tony got into the Tower and wasn't that just terrifying? No, seriously, imagine walking into your living room and there's this thin, bruised mess of a man covered in bandages standing in the very middle of it, staring at you. And I do mean staring, with eyes so wide open you could count the little veins in the whites. Come to think of it, it wasn't so much terrifying as creepy. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay creeptastic.  
  
“Yo, Loki!” Tony called cheerily as he made his way to the bar. Considering the way Loki's hand was clenched tightly on the staff he needed his armor bracelet pronto. “How you been, mummy buddy? Anything new happened after you left your nice comfy bed, with its soft pillows and warm sheets, which is totally still waiting for you, just so you know.”  
  
Loki's gaze turned unfocused for a moment, his constant trembling lessening. “Sleep.” Then the staff gave a small sharp burst of light and Loki snarled. “Don't try to distract me, mortal. I am burdened with glorious purpose.” He took a step forward. “It must be done.”  
  
Tony's eyebrows pretty much climbed over his forehead, across the scalp and down his back. “Glorious purpose.” He repeated and nope. Still sounded deranged.

“Yes.” Loki took another step forward, managing to look menacing even though his leg buckled a little. “It must be done. It _will_ be done.” he snarled, sounding as if he was ordering himself.  
  
“Yeah.” Tony said slowly, elongating the sound. “You do realize that we are gonna stop you, right? Me and Bruce and maybe SHIELD and Steve, remember Steve? You like Steve.” Loki's face tightened, as if in pain. “Steve is really worried about you. You wanna go meet with him, tell'im you're alright? Or, you know, I've got tons of beds in this place.” Tony surreptitiously fastened the bracelet firmly onto his wrist. “You could take a nap while we wait for him. I bet you've never slept on Egyptian cotton sheets, am I right?”  
  
“Silence!” Loki yelled, clutching at the staff with both white-knuckled hands. “I have a _purpose_! It is _glorious_! It _must_ be **done**!”  
  
Tony swallowed reflexively at the hysterical proclamations, then nodded. “Alright. Far be it for me to interfere with a man with a purpose. And a glorious one at that, I think that calls for a drink. I can make one specially for you. I call it Somnolific, very yummy and with a special secret ingredient.” Hmm, should he add one sedative capsule or two? A glance at Loki, still shaking with a manic expression as he stared into the staff. Right, five it is. “Almost done, wait just a second.”  
  
“I have an army. “ Loki said suddenly, and his shimmering eyes locked onto Tony. “I have an _army_.”  
  
“We have a Hulk.” Tony replied with a shrug, moving from behind the bar. “Hulk beats army a thousand times out of ten, if you get my drift.” He offered the alien the full glass. "Bottoms up."  
  
Loki didn't seem to have heard him. “You'll be part of my army.” he said, moving closer to Tony. “My Stark.” He whispered, the tip of the staff jerking forward and against Tony's chest.  
  
*clink *  
  
Loki frowned in surprise and glanced down. He drew the staff back and tapped it against Tony's chest again.  
  
*clink *  
  
“This usually works.” Loki murmured, brows scrunched up in an expression of utter confusion.  
  
The billionaire shrugged. “Well, you know, performance issues, what you gonna do?”  
  
Loki stared at where the top of his staff rested against Tony's chest. He tried again with no result, and he looked like he was just about to curl up into a tight little ball of abject misery and cry. He tapped the staff against Tony's chest once more and only looked more miserable as nothing happened.  
  
“Loki, buddy, I don't think it's gonna work.” Tony said softly, gently touching Loki's shoulder.  
  
The reaction was instantaneous. The moment Tony's fingers made contact, Loki's hand was wrapped tightly around his neck, fingers digging into the skin like a vice. The human was thrown to the floor hard, barely keeping his head from smashing against the marble. Then Loki's hand was once again on his throat, lifting him into the air. “You will all _kneel_ before me.” Loki hissed, his tone high with tears.  
  
“Jarvis, deploy. Deploy!” He managed to croak out, then Loki hurled him forward, right against the window. Right through the window, actually.  
  
Thank the god of everything alive that Tony remembered to put on his bracelet. The armor wrapping around him was pretty much the only thing that kept him from splattering all over the sidewalk like a very gruesome pancake.  
  
He flew right back up, glaring at Loki through the smashed glass. “You threw me out the window! I don't care where you're from, that's a completely dick move.”  
  
Loki shot a stream of energy at him from the staff, and Tony ducked, instinctively bringing up his arm gun. He fired a warning shot at the ground near Loki's legs. “Trust me, Reindeer Games.You don't wanna do that.”  
  
Loki stumbled and fell. He let out a keening moan, teeth clenched tight, breathing rapid. The staff glowed a bright blue.

“Just put the staff down, all right?” Tony said, lowering his guns. “Put it down, and I'll get Steve.”  
  
The second energy blast hit him square in the chest and sent him tumbling head over heels right at the nearby building. He managed to correct his flight before he went through another window, but before he could do anything else, a beam of pure energy shot into the sky. It hit the clouds with an ominous rumble and seemed to rip them apart, creating a dark blotchy gap in its wake.  
  
The portal was open. And quite a lot of flying somethings was coming through.  
  
“Right.” Stark muttered, his HUD display flashing. “The army.” Then he got to work.  
  
*~*  
  
Thor landed just as Loki's armor was flashing back into place, golden plates glowing with the remnants of magic. “Loki!” He called, moving forward swiftly. “Turn off the Tesseract! Now!”  
Loki jerked, whirling around to stare at him. He bared his teeth like a cornered animal, the staff glowing in his grasp.  
  
“Brother, stop this at once. There is still time to prove yourself not a villain in this.” Thor glanced up at the sky, his expression curling into disdain. “Are these that control the would-be-King you have become, brother?”  
  
“My army.” Loki whispered, staring at the sky with eyes opened wide and moving frantically. Then his eyes flashed with a brief blue glow, and he grinned widely, his sharp teeth bright. “Behold, the power I wield. What can your little hammer do against such might?”  
  
“No, Loki.” Thor said, pursing his lips in determination. “You will not provoke me into fighting you. But you will obey me on this.”  
  
“And how will you force my obedience from me?” Loki asked, his hands clenching on the staff. “Beat me, cut me, burn me, rip me open.” Green eyes glowing blue turned to stare at the thunderer. “How will you make sure I obey?”  
  
Thor took a deep breath. “I come here not as an enemy to torture you nor as a brother to coddle you.” He took a step forward. “I come here as the Heir of Asgard and your future King. You will obey me, Loki Silvertongue, as your King commands.”  
  
Loki stared at him, his jaw shifting from side to side slowly. “No. I am a God, not a serf. I am a ruler, not a subject.” The staff flashed blue, but Loki shook his head jerkily. “And you are not yet King. You are not the Allfather, there is no fealty. There is only Him, it must be _done_!”  
  
Thor softened his gaze and put Mjolnir down, freeing his hands. “Loki, I am willing to believe you. I am willing to believe in your pain and torture at the hands of these creatures. But you must also make an effort to be believed. Put down the staff.” He paused, letting the command sink in. “Please, Loki. Please, brother.”  
  
Thor concentrated on the wet sounds of Loki's breaths, ignoring the battle he could hear in the city. He would wait for the answer he wanted. Then his brother grinned manically, and he knew it was for naught.  
  
“They will all kneel to me.” Loki hissed, eyes bright blue. “Then we shall see who will be King.”  
  
“Then so be it.” Thor said, hefting Mjolnir into his grasp. A second later Loki threw himself forward, the centuries of Asgardian warrior training guiding their next moves.  
  
*~*  
  
It was brutal. No matter how much they fought, how many soldiers they took down, how many flying scooters they shot down, they just kept coming. More and more, guns, blasters, explosives, they just kept coming, milling around and destroying everything.  
  
Brought ants to mind, watching these aliens. Too many to defeat individually before they consumed everything and too many to destroy all at once. Every progress they made, more just kept coming.  
  
“We need to close the portal.” Widow said, breaking the neck of one creature and shooting three more with its own weapon. “And we need to do it now.”  
  
Steve smashed his shield into the nearest Chitauri and agreed wholeheartedly.  
  
*~*

Thor grabbed a swift hold on Loki, one hand grasping his shoulder, the other clenching in the fabric oh his tunic. He had to shake his brother a little before he stilled enough for Thor's words to sink in.  
  
“Look at this! Look at what you've brought here!” the thunderer yelled, making Loki face the death and destruction the Chitauri were causing. “This is what your rule would be like! Nothing but evil and pain! You can still change this, Loki. I will still give you a chance.”  
  
Loki's jaw shook, his cheeks twitching, but his lips continuously formed four words as he stared into the city. Thor had to strain to hear them, he had to nearly press his ear to Loki's lips to hear the repetition before it got lost in the air.  
  
It must be done, it must be done, it must be done, it must be done, over and over again.  
  
“Loki!” Thor shook him again, halting the litany. “This can be changed. Just let the staff go.”  
  
“It's too late. It's too late to stop it.” Loki whispered, staring at the burning havoc wrought on the city. “It must be done.” He said, voice shaking. He turned away from the sight of the destruction, his eyes glistering with unshed tears. “ _He's waiting_.” He whispered, the words falling from his lips like a Truth. “It must be _done_.”  
  
Thor swallowed. “Brother, release the staff from your hold. Unclench your fingers and let it fall, its power over you forgotten. We can still fix this, Loki. This can still be reversed.”  
  
Loki stared at him, his whole body trembling and shaking against Thor's unyielding hold. The slim muscles jerked from time to time, but Thor ignored the movements and refused to break eye-contact. He refused to give up on this.  
  
Loki made a soft sound, as if he was trying to take a breath but choked on it instead. He staff clattered to the ground, the sound lost in the chaos all around them.  
  
“Thank you, Loki.” Thor gave a relieved smile, and closed his eyes briefly. The very next moment a sharp spike of agony ripped into his side. Thor stumbled, more in surprise than anything else, and Loki used the opportunity. He yanked himself away from Thor's grasping fingers and ran to the edge of the platform. He jumped off it, but a passing Chitauri grabbed him and yanked him onto its scooter.  
  
Thor watched them fly off, then yanked the dagger from his side. He spared it only the briefest of glances, then tossed it aside, enraged that his efforts had given no results. And he had been so close. So close to breaking through Loki's so-called madness. So close.  
  
Thor clenched his fists tight and roared.  
  
He wanted to smash something, he needed to destroy something, he needed to release this anger.  
  
He directed his gaze upwards, where he knew the machine and the Tesseract were. He twirled his Hammer and prepared to fly.  
  
*~*  
  
They gathered together to regroup, to rethink, to strategise. They formed an attack plan, and each got a task appointed to them, a point in the chaos to concentrate on.  
  
Finally, as a Team, they split up to go save the world.  
  
*~*

Hawkeye stood on his rooftop, picking the Chitauri off like plastic ducks in a carnival game. Seriously, they weren't even worth the effort. They couldn't turn worth a shit on those scooters, they weren't that fast at scaling the walls and not even one had managed to get close to him with a blaster.  
  
If it weren't for their sheer numbers, they wouldn't be that impressive at all.  
  
“Hawkeye.” Natasha's voice sounded in his ear, and he glanced at her general location. A zoom of a scooter sounded behind him, so he shot it with an exploding arrow without looking. “What you got, Black Widow?”  
  
“There's one following me, Loki's on it.”  
  
“Got it.” Hawkeye nodded, then reached for the single tranq arrow he got on the Helicarier. He hesitated briefly, then grabbed the stem, pulling the arrow out and into his bow. He aimed it, then let it loose. It flew past Natasha, and straight at Loki's head. But of course, even when crazy off his rocker, Loki still had the reflexes of a God. He caught it right before the tip embedded itself in his eye, then he looked at the arrow in confusion.  
  
Good thing Hawkeye had changed his mind and didn't go with the tranq arrow. Fat lot of good it would've brought them.  
  
A second passed, then the arrow in Loki's hold exploded, throwing the crazy god through the air and back into Stark's Tower. Clint noticed the Hulk heading there out of the corner of his eye, then turned back to shooting the hell out of the Chitauri and reporting their every move to the team. Hulk could deal with the wacko himself.  
  
*~*  
  
Hulk growled at the grabbed the puny god's leg and smashed him repeatedly into the floor until he finally stopped talking, his wide eyes as green as Hulk's own skin.  
  
Good. No more blue.  
  
Hulk grabbed the puny god around the middle, then slammed him into the floor one more time, a little further away from the first hole. “PUNY GOD SLEEP NOW!” He growled, bearing his teeth.  
  
The puny god blinked at him with wide eyes, then nodded jerkily. “Sleep. Yes. Sleep.”  
  
Hulk huffed at him, then grabbed a nearby cushion and pressed it against the puny god. Then he got up and walked to the window, certain he would be obeyed.  
  
*~*  
  
“Did someone kiss me? Please tell me no one kissed me, I am way too cool to be woken up with a kiss like a Disney Princess.” Steve gave a relieved sigh and sat back, letting Stark's inane babble wash over him.  
  
They'd won. They were alive.  
  
“It is not over yet.” Thor said, looking up towards what was left of Stark's tower. “There is still Loki to take care off.”  
  
“Hulk tell Puny God to sleep. So Puny God sleep.” Hulk said, sitting back on his haunches.  
  
“For now. But what when he once again endangers your world? How will you deal with him then?”  
  
“Hulk smash Puny God till Puny God sleep.” Hulk said, bearing his teeth.  
  
“Or we could take him to shawarma.” Tony said, still making no effort to get up. “That's sure to tame the savage beast or something other like that, I'm hungry. I'm suddenly ravenous, who wants to go for shawarma with me?”  
  
“I will of course accompany you, Friend Stark.” Thor said, still looking at the tower. “But afterwards I will take Loki back to Asgard with me. It will be for the best.”  
  
“No offense, Thor, but Loki doesn't react well to your presence.” Natasha pointed out through their comm units. “Or was it someone else who dropped you from the Helicarier then stabbed you in the side?”  
  
“It was a shallow wound, aimed only to distract me.” Thor said dismissively.  
  
“So that Loki could get away from you, my point exactly.”  
  
“I think it's enough for now.” The Captain stood up, and headed towards Stark's tower. “We can decide everything later on. Let's just collect Loki and go back to the Helicarier.”  
  
“I still vote shawarma. I'm hungry here.” Tony slowly stood up, parts of his suit screeching in protest. “Let's go get Loki first. I need to drop by my closet as well, I need to get changed.”  
  
“Loki will return with me.” Thor said one more time, following after them.  
  
“With the staff away from him, Loki will be able to think on his own. More or less.” Steve pointed out, entering the lobby. “I'm sure he can decide for himself where he wants to stay.”  
  
“We shall see, Friend Rogers.”  
  
*~*

When they got to the right floor, Loki was still lying on the floor, clutching a sofa cushion to his chest. Hawkeye sat next to him, cleaning underneath his fingernails with a large hunting knife. Natasha sat on the single armchair that survived the Hulk, a magazine open on her lap.  
  
“What took you so long?” she asked, standing gracefully.  
  
“Where's the staff?” The Captain asked, setting his shield on what was left of the bar.  
  
“Selvig has it. He needs it to disassemble the portal machine. SHIELD is on their way to pick us all up, he says he should have it done by the time they arrive.”  
  
“Good.” Steve nodded at her, then smiled tiredly. “Good job, everyone. Excellent work.”  
  
“Yeah, yeah. I'm going to go peal myself out of my suit and into something less heavy. Jolly Green, if you wanna shrink any time soon, I'll get you some clothes.” Tony said, making his slow way down one of the corridors. Hulk followed after him, grunting as he changed back into Bruce.  
  
Steve watched them go, then walked over to Loki's prone body, kneeling next to him.  
  
“Hey, Loki.” He called softly, laying a gentle hand on the god's shoulder. Loki came awake with a startled scream, fingers curling into claws aimed for the Captain's face.  
  
Steve caught them and held them still. “Calm down, Loki. It's only me. Steve, remember?” he smiled when Loki let out a shuddery breath and relaxed somewhat. “It's over now. What do you say to getting back to your bed back at the Helicarrier?”  
  
“Pillows and blankets.” Loki said, staring at him and blinking slowly. “Sleep.”  
  
“Yes, sleep.” Steve agreed, helping him sit up.  
  
The moment Loki caught sight of Thor, he went still as death. He stared at the thunderer with wide eyes, his hands clenching into fists.  
  
“Loki, it's fine. Everything's all right now.” Steve said soothingly, and smiled slightly when green eyes turned to look at him. “Everything's fine.”  
  
“Infinity is His, and Death follows in His wake.” Loki whispered, then lay back down on the floor, curling once again around the sofa cushion.  
  
Steve frowned, then threw a confused look at Thor. But he looked as confused as the Captain, so he let it be. For now.  
  
*~*


	8. Epilogue: Everything Will Be Fine and Nothing Will Be Alright

A week later, everything was settled enough for them to send the Tesseract back to Asgard. They decided on a quiet Tuesday, timing it so that Fury would distract the Council while they left the base with the would-be weapon.  
  
They chose Central Park for their goodbyes. It was one of the few places the Chitauri hadn't damaged or destroyed. It was also still relatively deserted, as most of New York were still rebuilding the city. No one would have blinked twice at the motley group of people clustered around a tall blond in a cape.  
  
“I still believe you are making a grand mistake.” Thor said gravely, eyes hard.  
  
“You want us to ask him again?” Bruce asked, gesturing towards Steve and Loki. “Because I'm fairly sure the answer is going to be the same.”  
  
 _“Loki, this is very important. Please concentrate.” Coulson said gently, voice calm and soothing. “Do you want to go back to Asgard with Thor?”_  
  
 _“No, Loki, and I fell.” Loki whispered, his gaze jumping all over the room._  
  
 _“Loki, concentrate. Think. Do you want to go back to Asgard with Thor?”_  
  
 _Loki grew only more agitated at the question, but he did manage to shake his head rapidly, fingers clawing at his throat._  
  
 _Phil was quick to shush him and change the topic. The answer, though not voiced, was more than clear._  
  
“My brother is disturbed. Any decision he makes in his state is not made reasonably.” Thor argued, clutching the Tesseract to his chest.  
  
“Okay, how about the fact he tries to put you through a wall each time you touch him?” Natasha pointed out. “Or stab you if he has something pointy near him.”  
  
“It was merely twice, Lady Widow.” Thor said, though he sounded regretful and no longer so insistent. “But I see your point.” He looked at his brother, standing docilely next to Steve. Loki's rapid mood swings were a worry for him. “But what of accommodations? Surely he will not stay with your SHIELD?”  
  
“Cap and Screw-Loose are welcome to stay at the Tower with me and Bruce.” Tony said, grinning cheekily.  
  
Steve looked startled by the proposition. “I'm not sure we could impose-”  
  
“Unless you have a better place for a severely disturbed magic-user who is prone to fits of physical violence when unsettled?” Coulson asked pointedly. Steve couldn't argue with that, so he nodded his agreement.  
  
“There, problem solved.” Tony grinned, and turned back to the thunderer.

Thor still looked undecided, so he once again turned to the subject of their discussion.  
  
“Brother... Please reconsider your decision to stay here. Both Mother and Eir are in Asgard. They will surely help ease your pain.”  
  
Loki stayed silent for a few moments, watching the sky with wide-open eyes. Then he looked sharply to Thor, eyes hot with anger.  
  
“ _ **Burn** you_.” He hissed, face twisting into an expression of rage. He extended one arm, fingers curling into claws. As they watched, blue seemed to spill out from underneath the nails and spread across the skin of the entire arm. “Blue blue _black_.”  
  
Thor visibly flinched, taking a startled step back.  
  
“I think that's a no.” Clint said, rocking slightly on the balls of his feet dismissively.  
  
Tony blinked at the blue limb, then drew a hand over it. “Shit, this is cold. The air temperature dropped by like ten points. This is amazing. I bet you could freeze the water particles in the air. Insta-ice, it might be the next fab.”  
  
Loki slowly turned to look at the billionaire, blinking at him.  
  
Tony grinned. “How are you doing that? Magic or something?”  
  
“Hiding under beds to eat your toes.”  
  
“That's way creepy. Just so you know, I've got my toes counted, so I'll know if one of them goes missing.”  
  
Loki frowned at him in confusion for a few moments, then went back to staring at the sky.  
  
Thor swallowed heavily and straightened his back. “I will return soon, Loki. If not with Eir then with another healer for you. We will not abandon you to your madness.”  
  
Loki ignored him, turning his head to look over Steve's shoulder at the trees in the distance.  
  
Thor sighed, then said his goodbyes to his Midgardian friends, shaking hands or giving hugs. Loki flinched away from he tried with him, growling like a rabid beast.  
  
With one last sad look at his brother, Thor twisted the valve on the container, activating the Tesseract. He disappeared in a burst of light, leaving only a small wind behind him.  
  
Loki blinked as he stared at the spot the thunderer had stood. “Thor?” he called softly, frowning in confusion.  
  
“He went back to Asgard.” Steve reminded him gently. Loki still looked disconcerted, wringing his hands against his shirt. “He promised he'd be back soon. Thor doesn't seem the kind to break his word, right?”  
  
Loki slowly shook his head. “A word is honor and honor is a sword.”  
  
Steve blinked in confusion, but nonetheless gently patted Loki's back (he still had a tendency to lash out when startled). “See? No need to worry.”  
  
Loki made a soft sound, then looked back to the sky. “Warning, closed bridge.”  
  
“Maybe there's construction on the stellar highway.” Tony grinned teasingly, then turned on his heel. “Come on, Crazy Smurf. Another bed awaits. Plus science, but that's for me and Bruce.” He turned to the other scientist. “Seriously buddy, candyland. You'll drool when you see the labs.”  
  
THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for staying with me all this time it took me to write this thing. Thank you for the comments, and thank you for the patience. It was fun writing it. =]
> 
> I am planning on writing one more fic in this 'verse (a 5+1 thing), but I'm not sure when I'll finish it. Maybe next month.


End file.
